This Thanksgiving, while many of us watch the parade or wait for the turkey thermometer to pop, a group of football players participated in the 29th Annual Meadows Turkey Bowl. Nearly three decades ago, Mike Meadows founded the Turkey Bowl with one goal in mind: to help others.

The Meadows Turkey Bowl is a philanthropic football game, where players must "pay to play" - $2,000 each, in fact. Players raise money from donations they solicit to become drafted, and all proceeds are given to St. Vincent de Paul. One-half of that money flows down to the Mary Grace Memorial Foundation.

In 2017, Meadows and his crew donated $263,000. Since its inception, the bowl has raised more than $1.5 million! This year's goal is simple: raise just $1 more than last year. And that goal was met.

The Mary Grace Memorial Foundation would like to express our gratitute to Mike Meadows, his family, the players, and everyone who supports this great cause. While the players battled it out on the field (Bill Dunn Field to be exact), we were thinking about and praying for the so many people who have their own battles with cancer.